SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
INTRO
TNA opened Impact this week with highlights from last week’s episode including Nic Nemeth’s successful defense of the TNA World Title against KC Navarro, and also a lengthy piece on Order 4, Mustafa Ali, and Jason Hotch ahead of their match for the TNA International Championship. Tom Hannifan & Matthew Rehwoldt introduced the show and threw to Ricky Sosa making his entrance. Hannifan, of Sosa & Leon Slater, said they are “leading the charge into the future.”
FEUD: RICKY SOSA & LEON SLATER vs. THE SYSTEM (Eddie Edwards & Cedric Alexander w/Aisha Edwards)
Matt Rehwoldt described The System as the ultimate “gate-keepers” in TNA. After ducking Sosa & Slater last week, The System’s Eddie Edwards & Cedric Alexander faced off against the babyface pair this week. Notably, early in the match, Tom Hannifan thanked the television audience for producing Impact’s highest ratings in eight years for last week’s episode.
After a second interference by Alisha Edwards, the commentary team noted that Alisha’s presence has resulted in tons of success over the years. After a really strong match and a series of combination moves, Sosa/Slater secured the victory over Alexander and The System. Following their victory, Slater demanded an X-Division Title match against Cedric Alexander, in a cage match.
Breakdown: A good crowd in Philadelphia made for an energetic contest to open Impact this week; the fans were really into the Sosa/Slater team as the pair continue to be the most popular stars in the promotion. These two teams had great chemistry together and had a great match; one of the better matches on Impact lately, in my opinion.
On the Destination Impact podcast last week, JB & I lobbied for a Ricky Sosa/Leon Slater run at the TNA Tag Titles, but coming out of this match, Slater seems focused on recapturing the X-Division Title. If the plan is to have Slater go over, and win back the X-Division Title, then I can get behind it, but I would have preferred to elevate Sosa here also. Overall, a strong opening segment though.
Grade: A
BACKSTAGE WITH MUSTAFA ALI & ORDER 4
Mustafa Ali ordered John Skyler to gather the rest of the Order 4 faction, but Skyler was distracted by Mila Moore. Ali gave the orders to Moore to have all members of Order 4 present at ringside for the Ali-Hotch International Title Match later in the show.
Breakdown: Ali continues to sink into bad “for comedy” segments with John Skyler being distracted by the stereotypical attractiveness of Mila Moore, which continues Moore’s attempts at becoming the primary aid to Ali. What is, at times, one of the more cringe-worthy weekly segments, the Order 4-Ali storyline seems to be elevating other people rather than Ali, who I think should be more of a focus for TNA creative.
Grade: D
BACKSTAGE WITH THE ELEGANCE BRAND
FEUD: THE ELEGANCE BRAND vs. DEMON BUNNY
Personal Concierge has regained his eyesight, apparently, and also secured Elegance Brand’s rematch for the TNA Knockouts Tag Titles against Demon Bunny’s Rosemary & Allie. M & Heather by Elegance wondered what would happen if they eventually faced each other in the final of the Knockouts TV Title tournament, but Personal Concierge quickly changed the subject back to the tag title match.
Breakdown: After winning the Knockouts Tag Titles at Slammiversary, Rosemary & Allie both lost matches against M & Heather by Elegance in the TV Title tournament, which I thought was an odd booking choice. With no prior build other than that, the title match was announced for this week’s edition of Impact. I figured they would go back to this tag feud, which is why I was critical of having both members of Demon Bunny lose their singles matches against the Elegance Brand in recent weeks.
Grade: D
TNA KNOCKOUTS TV TITLE TOURNAMENT
THEA HAIL vs. INDI HARTWELL
Last week, NXT’s Thea Hail defeated young TNA talent, Harley Hudson to advance to the next round of the TV Title tournament to face Indi Hartwell. The match started with back and forth action but settled into Thea Hail using joint manipulation and submissions. After Hail missed her springboard finisher, Hartwell-Hail abandoned a bad powerbomb spot and went to the finish; Hartwell with the victory over Hail to advance in the tournament.
Breakdown: The match was pretty good but I continue to question the logic of booking out this tournament. Clearly, when booking a tournament, there will be matches that pair faces vs. faces & heels vs. heels, but this is one of those face vs face matches I would have avoided. Hartwell was the more over talent, but the crowd liked both wrestlers and was kind of dead at times in the middle of the match. Hartwell winning was the obvious choice here, and will face M By Elegance in the next round. At this point, Hartwell is the strong favorite left in the field to win the tournament.
Grade: B-
BACKSTAGE WITH AJ FRANCIS ASKING FOR DONATIONS FOR EXPRESSIONS MEDICAL EXPENSES
AJ Francis took donations for Expression’s medical bills after Expressions was destroyed by Moose & Elijah last week. After garnering some donations from randoms, Francis approached Rich Swann & BDE, who declined, mocking Francis as they left the segment.
Breakdown: Strictly for comedy, this kind of funny, but I question the choice to use AJ Francis like this. He is not the best wrestler in the world by any means, but he has physical credibility and he is good on the mic. I always wonder if there is more to the story, with no exception here.
Grade: C+
KC NAVARRO MAKING HIS WAY TO THE RING
Last week, KC Navarro came up short in a match for the TNA World Championship against Nic Nemeth. On Impact this week, Navarro displayed the agony of defeat with an in-ring promo. Navarro declared that after questioning himself, he now feels that he belongs. The System interrupted Navarro’s promo, telling him to leave the ring. Alexander declared that Leon Slater would never get a chance at the X-Division Championship.
The System continued to cut a promo until Navarro, who had remained in the ring, interrupted Eddie Edwards, which led to The System beating down Navarro until the group of Fabian Aichner, Leon Slater, and Ricky Sosa made the save. By the end of the segment, it was clear that this was designed to set the stage for the Lockdown Match at the Lockdown PPV.
Breakdown: Navarro’s promo had its ups and downs but for the most part I thought he came across well and likeable. After weeks of small build to a Lockdown match for the upcoming Lockdown PPV, the field is finally starting to take shape. I like the babyface team of young and fresh stars, and have been thinking this was coming for a while, so this makes sense and the match should be good.
Grade: B+
IMPACT INJURY REPORT
After Tom Hannifan was seemingly concluding the Injury Report, Rehwoldt jumped in with the now regularly occurring Nic Nemeth hype. I continue to not be a fan of this presentation of the Injury Report with the silly attempts at comedy which turn the entire concept into a joke.
BACKSTAGE WITH KNOCKOUTS WORLD CHAMPION XIA BROOKSIDE
Xia Brookside claims she attacked Elayna Black & Wendy Choo because she “can”. Wendy Choo interrupted the Brookside promo, calling her a coward. Santino Marella made a TNA Knockouts World Title match between Brookside and Wendy Choo. Elayna Black entered the segment at the end to give her support to Choo.
Breakdown: I thought Brookside was better this week. I also thought Choo was pretty good and that the two did a good job to build up a match. I question the use of Elayna Black in this role, as I would expect her to be chasing Brookside for the title rather than just being there to give moral support to Wendy Choo. I also disagree with the choice to make the Brookside-Choo match a title match as Choo has done nothing in canon to earn a shot at the Knockouts World Title, after being eliminated from the TV Title tournament in a draw, a note that Brookside made about Elayna. The segment was a mixed bag.
Grade: D
FEUD: DEMONXBUNNY vs. THE ELEGANCE BRAND
ALLIE & ROSEMARY {c} vs. THE ELEGANCE BRAND – TNA KNOCKOUTS TAG TITLE MATCH
Though Allie could not find Rosemary, the match went ahead with Allie defending the tag titles on her own. Early in the match, Personal Concierge got involved in the match, Allie attacked Personal Concierge, and subsequently attacked Mr. Elegance, and then also the Elegance Brand, using one of the tag title belts, leading to the disqualification finish.
Breakdown: The Knockouts Tag Titles continue to be booked very poorly. Elegance Brand shenanigans are back to center focus with tons of outside interference, as always. Allie using the title belt that Personal Concierge introduced to the match, leading to the disqualification, is one way to get out of the match without a finish, but if that was the endgame of the 2 minute match, I’m not sure why you even book or announce it.
Grade: F
THE GOATS AND THE HARDYS ENTER THE IMPACT ZONE
Following the Righteous Deletion against The Righteous, The Hardys entered the Impact Zone, wearing the goat masks they introduced during the match at the Hardy Compound that aired on Impact last week. Matt Hardy declared that their feud with the Righteous has come to an end and that they have been “deleted” and “may even be dead”. Hardy plugged an actor in the audience and an AMC show. They declared themselves the greatest tag team in the history of pro wrestling and that TNA is on AMC because of the Hardys.
The Hardys were interrupted by TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth and his brother Ryan Nemeth. The Nemeth’s challenged the Hardys for the TNA Tag Titles. Santino Marella entered the segment to make the tag title match official. Santino also declared that Nic Nemeth will defend the TNA World Title against Jeff Hardy in the near future. The Nemeths continued to berate the AMC actor, Aimee Garcia until she threw a beverage into the face of Ryan Nemeth and then slapped him. The Hardys celebrated with Garcia to bring the segment to a close.
Breakdown: TNA tried to accomplish a lot in this segment. Lining up challengers for both the TNA World Title and the TNA World Tag Titles in the coming weeks. The Hardy segment of the promo was odd, bordering on heelish, to me. Just when I was getting accustomed to seeing less of Ryan Nemeth, he returned to TV this week; his bulging eyes included. There are other things I would like to see than these matches, but perhaps TNA has reason to believe this could draw some ratings and buys. I’m not very high on either act, the Hardys or Nemeth brothers, right now.
Grade: C
AJ FRANCIS CONTINUES TO HUNT FOR DONATIONS FOR EXPRESSIONS.
Francis continued the show-long storyline of “fundraising” for his new manager Expressions after being beaten down by Moose & Elijah last week. Elijah interrupted Francis’ berating of Home Town Man, signaling a continuing of their feud that seemed to have wrapped up at Slammiversary. Francis challenged Elijah to a cage match at Lockdown and Eljiah accepted.
Breakdown: In another stream of odd booking choices, after seemingly putting the feud to rest at Slammiversary, TNA returned to the Eljiah-AJ Francis feud when Eljiah offered to help Moose in past weeks. I always was more in favor of Francis going over in this feud, so maybe we are getting back to that, and if so, then all is well that ends well.
Grade: B
BACKSTAGE WITH DARIA RAE & SANTINO MARELLA
Daria Rae booked another cage match for Lockdown; Elegance Brand vs. Demon Bunny for the Knockouts Tag Titles. Rae then declared a need to “trim the fat” with Harley Hudson, randomly, at the top of the list. Santino defended Hudson but Rae claimed she would petition the Board to void Hudson’s contract.
Breakdown: The small developments in the authority figures storyline this week randomly centered on Daria Rae’s desire to get rid of Knockout Harley Hudson. This felt very random, but I am in favor of elevating Harley Hudson. I do think she would be a better heel, but TNA needs depth in the Knockouts division, so I like that they will attempt to further build up a young star in this.
Grade: C+
KNOCKOUTS TV TITLE TOURNAMENT CONTUNES
JODY THREAT vs. JADA STONE
The TV Title tournament continued with Jody Threat facing off against Jada Stone. The two wrestlers had a competitive match with neither gaining a significant edge over the other before Stone gained the victory with a roll up, and a slight grab of the tights.
Breakdown: Jada Stone continues to get the standout push by TNA in the TV Title Tournament. I felt it was important to elevate some younger talent with this tournament and it seems Jada Stone has been one of the benefactors of the tournament so far. The match was solid, back and forth action with no shenanigans, which TNA could use more of.
Grade: B+
TNA INTERNATIONAL TITLE MATCH
MUSTAFA ALI {c} vs. JASON HOTCH
Ali’s International Title challenger was decided by a locker room vote. Ali ordered Hotch to refuse the shot but Hotch showed fire, choosing to face Ali for the title. Ali entered with the full Order 4 behind him. During Ali’s entrance he gestured at Hotch’s family sitting at ringside a number of times, building the tension ahead of the match. Ali held control of the match early, revisiting the chastising of Hotch’s family at ringside, which led to Hotch gaining the upper-hand for a portion of the early match. After returning from a mid-match break, the two wrestlers were on the top rope and Hotch delivered an insane-looking superplex to the floor, through a table, which got a huge reaction from the fans.
Once recovering and returning to the ring, Hotch re-gained control of the match, until Ali pulled the ref into the way of a Hotch strike. Ali then whipped Hotch with a belt until he was disarmed by Hotch’s fellow Great Hands partner, John Skyler, who was then knocked off the apron inadvertently by Hotch. Ali went for a pin with his feet on the ropes, but Tasha Steelz pushed them off, leading to the whole of Order 4 fighting away from ringside area. Hotch-Ali exchanged convincing roll ups, but Ali then hit a piledriver and the 450, but Hotch was able to escape the pinfall. Shortly after, Hotch was able to secure the victory over Ali to win the TNA International Title. Hotch celebrated with his family in the ring.
Breakdown: The build to Jason Hotch winning the International Title seemed to come out of nowhere. I was, admittedly, not very high on The Great Hands (Hotch & Skyler) being added to the Tag Titles matches at Slammiversary and subsequently, as it felt like a very random push of lower-card guys. Hotch made the most of promo time last week, and was really convincing in the segment where he told Ali he was going to face him. The Title match on Impact was really good. The action was good and exciting and Ali really sold for Hotch. The superplex spot looked dangerous. The fans in the building seemed to be really into the match, as well, which elevated it. Not being a big fan of the recent Order 4 direction, maybe this is setting Ali on a better trajectory, longterm. I definitely feel Jason Hotch was elevated in this match and set up some potentially interesting directions for Ali & Order 4.
Grade: A
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.